This week is the last week for you and your kids to enjoy the Science in Play exhibit at the Louisville Science Center, as the last day it will be open is January 1, 2013.
Designed for ages 3-7, the exhibit encourages kids to build, test and try out different scientific concepts through experimental play. There are six different activity zones:
Sensory Forest-This multi-sensory area has a noodle forest, a shadow wall and an Optimusic station.
Testing Area-In this area children are encouraged to build, design and test their own structures, such as a roller coaster and a magnet wall. This area also has Airways, which consists of a maze of transparent tubes that carry colorful scarves and balls on a 135 foot circuitous route and then spit them out. (FYI? My six year old son absolutely loved the Airways and there were kids older than seven lining up to play with it.)
Big Build - Children can create their own structures using more than 100 large foam blocks, foam noodles and foam balls.
Small Build- The building tools are scaled down in this area and designed to help develop and encourage fine motor skills using planks, gears and small foam blocks.
Science Depot- This kid-sized workshop lets kids perform science experiments alone, with another child or with the help of Science Center staff. There is a different theme each month and this month’s theme is Animals. Children can learn how animals that are furry, leathery, and scaly choose a home, find their food, and survive in the wild.
Shapes & Stuff- Here, children practice their visual and math literacy skills by browsing and buying shapes and pattern recipes to create a varied shopping cart of colors, shapes, and sizes.
The Louisville Science Center also has three floors of other exhibits to explore. My son especially likes the Water Play area (which mercifully supplies rain coats of all different sizes for the kids to wear) and the IMAX Theater.
So, if you’re looking for something to do with the kids on Christmas break that will burn some energy in a productive way, visit the Louisville Science Center before the Science in Play exhibit closes.
For more information, visit http://www.kysciencecenter.org .
Photos courtesy of Cynthia Bard Mayes
